Final Sacrifice
by morgana07
Summary: A sort of AU story set after Dead man's Blood in a version of what might've happened once John learned about Sam's visions. Hurt!Sammy/ Angsty/Protective!Dean/ Angst!Over-reactive John. NOT a deathfic really…trust me.
1. Chapter 1

**Final Sacrifice**

**Chapter 1**

**Summary: ** A sort of AU story set after Dead Man's Blood in a version of what might've happened once John learned about Sam's visions. Hurt!Sammy/ Angsty/Protective!Dean/ Angst!Over-reactive John. NOT a deathfic really…trust me.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the boys or anything.

**Warnings: **Mild swearing since Dean's upset, not a deathfic despite what the first chapter shows and I'll throw in a tissue warning to be on the safe side.

**Tags: **Takes place after Fresh Blood in Season 1 but no direct tags to that episode.

**SPN SPN SPN SPN SPN**

"Okay, we've got Aspirin, Advil, Tylenol, two colors of Gatorade and a new ice pack since I still don't know what we did with the old one," Dean Winchester announced as he entered the small cabin they'd rented.

Not liking the idea of leaving Sam alone with their father, Dean had been reluctant to go to the store for supplies but after Sam had the last spell he knew they needed the pain medication. He already knew his little brother was going to wake up during the night to vomit so he picked up the Gatorade while he was out.

John's return to their lives just as they were digging into the death of Daniel Elkins, a fellow hunter, had been sudden, unexpected, and if Dean was honest with himself, unwelcome. While he paid plenty of lip service to the greatness that was John Winchester, Dean wasn't stupid enough to not know whenever his father was around things would go from bad to worse…for Sammy.

His little brother had never got the hand of listening, nodding, agreeing with their father and then just doing the opposite as soon as he was gone. Dean often wondered if the reason his father and brother fought so much is because they tended to be so alike at times. "God, scary thought," he muttered, managing the door to the cabin without dropping the bags.

Taking a look around, he noticed that Sam still appeared to be sleeping peacefully after the last vision occurred. The vision that made it impossible to keep from their Dad the news that Sam was having very freaky dreams that more often than not…actually came true.

"Sammy? Time to wake up, swallow some pills and then go back to sleep," Dean called, taking his jacket off to toss it on his bed before digging for the pills he'd just bought while noticing that their Dad wasn't in the main room but seemed to be in the cabin's very tiny bathroom. "Sam, c'mon, wake up so I can put you back to sleep."

Frowning when his brother didn't move or even stir at his voice, Dean's concern grew rapidly. Usually after one of those damn visions, Sam barely slept so normally he'd snap his eyes open at the tiniest sound from his brother. This time however he remained sleeping perfectly still on his…

Realizing that his brother was on his back took the older boy's concern up to near panic. Sam never slept on his back after a vision. Every single time he had a vision, he reverted back to his childhood habits and either curled on his side to clutch a pillow or Dean if he was close or he'd flop on his stomach. He never would lay on his back and never this still.

"Sam?" dropping the pills, Dean was beside his brother in a second to jerk the covers down only to shut his eyes as rage flew over him. "_DAD_!"

The shout wasn't friendly and it wasn't with respect. Dean was seeing red when he could see past the bruises on his brother's arms, the blood that split his hand open and the bruise on his neck. "Sammy, open your eyes now, kiddo," Dean whispered, placing a hand on Sam's still face to try to urge some response but felt the rage drop to sick fear as the cool skin registered. Then he slid his hand around to grip the back of his brother's neck when something else registered and he jerked his hand out to see it covered in blood. "No," he whispered, grabbing his brother's shoulder to move him to his side while praying he wouldn't find what he feared he had when with shaking fingers he finally reached to check the younger man's pulse. "You son of a bitch," he gritted, eyes burning with tears that he wasn't aware had started to fall as he felt again for a pulse on Sam but found none and the rage turned to hate.

"Dean…"

"What the hell did you do to him?" whirling, Dean was on his feet and in John Winchester's face a second later. Slamming his father back against the cabin wall, he pulled the Colt .45 on instinct. "I left you with Sam for less than an hour, Dad! He was fine when I left him! Now unless you tell me some stupid robber broke in here, shot my baby brother in the back of the head after beating him down I'm going to assume something else," he snarled, the Colt lifting with only one target in mind. "What did you do?" he screamed, still feeling Sam's cold face and unmoving body.

John knew this would be his oldest son's reaction and so didn't fight back right away but when he saw the boy lift the Colt he moved, quickly using his forearm to block Dean's arm to grab the gun from his grip and then simply shoved him back instead of using a fist or worse on his son. "Dean, I know this is hard for you but I need you to listen…"

"Listen to you?" Dean felt his head wanting to explode as he put himself between his father and the still, lifeless body of his little brother. "I listened to you when you said to go to the goddamn store! I listened to you when you said that you'd watch over Sam! You didn't watch over him, Dad! You killed your own son and now you want me to listen to you?" his world had collapsed into nothing but rage and grief as he fought for control. "Tell me why? Did a demon possess him? Did he somehow grow wings or…"

"Dean!" John snapped in his best drill sergeant tone that normally brought his eldest back to his senses but this time he saw that it only served to enrage his son more. "It had to be done, Dean. Especially after I seen your brother have that spell and you told me about the other times. I couldn't let it go any further and I wish to God that you had stayed gone long enough for me to handle it fully but…"

Those words stilled Dean and he shot a look between his father to the body of his brother, understanding dawning. "You…were going to take Sam's body and…leave?" he began to shake, taking a step closer to John. "What were you going to do with him?" he demanded tightly, seeing the truth and feeling like throwing up. "You were going to salt and burn him, weren't you? Were you planning on telling me or just letting me assume Sammy was with you?"

"I would've told you after awhile, Dean," John sighed grimly, not knowing a way to tell his son the truth. "Dean, this wasn't your brother anymore," he began slowly, hoping he could make Dean understand and understand why he did what he had. "He hasn't been since the night of the fire and that damn demon fed him demon blood. Sammy was gone that night, son and he was just going to get further away from you and more dangerous if he wasn't stopped."

A fist lashed out to catch John in the jaw, knocking him back into the table. "I don't give a damn what he was!" Dean screamed, grabbing his father by the shirt to slam him back into the wall as he pounded a blind fist into his face. "He was Sammy! He was my baby brother and your goddamn son! You had no right to take that from me, Dad!" slamming a hard fist into John's head, he shoved him into the wall again before stalking back to begin shoving his and Sam's things in their duffel bags. "You don't think I knew something was wrong with him? You don't think I hadn't put two and two together that something else happened the night Mom died? I'm not stupid, Dad!"

John sat where he was to watch his son move around the room, packing the two duffel bags before he went to throw them into the Impala. "Dean, I didn't want this on you and eventually, even after I kill this demon, Sam would've had to be dealt with because the demon had plans for him and the other kids like him," he tried to explain as he got to his feet but found himself staring into the barrel of his son's .45. "Dean…"

"I raised him from the minute you began this damn crusade, Dad," Dean's voice had dropped to a dangerously low tone and the hate in his eyes warned John that his son wasn't not doing what he'd expected him to. "Sammy was scared of these powers. You saw one vision. I've lived with them for over six months and I'm the one who held him after every single one. I'm the one who told him that he'd be fine, that he wasn't a freak and that so long as I was with him nothing bad would happen to him. I could protect Sammy from the supernatural, the hunters, and crap. The one thing that I never thought I had to protect him from is what killed him because I never thought I'd have to protect him from _YOU_!" he shouted in a rage, tears streaming now but Dean ignored them as he backed away from John to sit next to his brother.

Dean ignored the threat his father posed since right then he didn't care if John shot him. He gently eased Sam up to slid his leather jacket on his limp body while folding him tightly into his arms for several minutes. "I am so sorry, Sammy," he whispered, burying his face in Sam's soft shaggy brown hair. "I left you alone and I broke my promise but I'll make it better again, little brother. If it's the last damn thing I do, I'll make this better."

"Dean? Dean, what're you…" John stopped as Dean gently gathered Sam's taller and heavier body into his arms but didn't appear to have any difficulty when he stood. "Don't do something stupid, son. Just let me take your…"

"You touch him or try to come after me and the next time I lay eyes on you I will kill you," Dean vowed in a tone that left no doubt that he'd carry this threat out. "You ran your crusade, you ruined your sons by dragging us into this hell with you but all of that I forgave you for, Dad. I ignored the abuse, the lack of attention, the days, weeks or months you left us alone but I can't…I won't forgive this," he declared, voice thick with emotion as he stared at his father and still didn't see a single tear. "Did he fight back? Is that why he has bruises? Did he know you were going to kill him?" he demanded, praying to God that his brother hadn't. "Did you at least have the damn decency to knock him out before you shot him from behind?"

"You think this was easy on me, Dean?" John snapped, hating that it had gone this far. "Sam was my son but I couldn't let this demon corrupt him anymore. The only way to stop it was…"

Blinking hot tears away, Dean glanced down at the innocent face in his arms before looking back at John. "What did he say to you?" he wanted to know, guessing that his brother had known their father's plan. "He wouldn't have begged you since this was his one big fear if you found out about his powers, so what the hell was my brother's last words?"

Eyes dry, John's gaze switched between his sons before finally swallowing. "He…Sam asked me to tell you that he…loved you and that he hoped you'd forgive him for causing this." he replied slowly.

"Forgive him?" Dean repeated bitterly as he gently laid his little brother in the back seat of the car that had been their home since Sam was six months old and then stood to face their father one final time. "Sammy I can forgive the world but you? You are dead to me, Dad. You took the one good thing I had left and instead of seeing him as your son, you saw him as something to be hunted so now I'll do what I have to in order to make this right."

"Damn it, Dean!" John snapped, reaching out to grab his son's arm only to find himself shoved into his truck. "Dean! Don't do what you're thinking! You can't…"

The .45 clicked as the hammer pulled back. "I will do whatever I have to," Dean replied, voice dead serious as he stared at John with cold eyes. "I knew about Sam's powers and I've seen other people who that damn demon have visited so I knew the odds of Sammy going darkside were high but you want to know why I never did anything, Dad?" he asked, going on without waiting for an answer. "I didn't do anything but protect him because Sammy was my baby brother and I loved him! I still love him and I'll get him back and if you come within a hundred damn feet of us ever again, I will forget what you are and I will kill you."

With that solemn vow, Dean slammed the door to the Impala, roared off into the night with only one destination in mind while his father was left staring at the taillights, and realized that he hadn't just lost one son that night but he'd managed to lose both his sons. He had also made a very dangerous enemy because he now had no doubts to what Dean would do to protect his little brother.

"Goddamn it!" John Winchester roared into the night air, whirling to slam his fist into the side of his big black monster truck as a single tear rolled down his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Final Sacrifice**

**Chapter 2**

Standing by the motel window, Dean eased the curtain back just enough to see out it before dropping it back in place. To say he was paranoid was an understatement since he wasn't stupid or naïve enough to think that his father would leave it alone. No, he knew John would come after him…after them, he corrected himself as he glanced to the closed bathroom door where he could hear the shower running.

It hadn't taken him all that long to find a crossroads that was a safe distance from where he'd left his father…from where he left John, since he could no longer think of John Winchester as his father. Dean was slightly ashamed that he'd hesitated for a brief few seconds before filling the metal tin with what he needed and burying it in the center of the crossroads to wait.

Making deals had been one of the first things he'd been taught never to do because making deals with demons was never a good thing but he was out of options. His little brother was lying on the back seat dead from a gunshot would their own father had inflicted and Dean had promised Sammy he'd be safe. He failed that promise so he needed to find a way to make it right again…even at the cost of his life or soul.

Walking back to sit on his bed, he quietly disassembled his Colt for cleaning while listening for the water to shut off and remembering that night only last week.

"Well, well, the great Dean Winchester as I live and breathe," the soft sultry Southern accent came from behind him and like the story goes, a beautiful young woman dressed in a short black microskirt stood behind him with the trademark red eyes before they went black. "What brings you to my door, sugar?" she asked, cocking her head with a smile. "You know your Daddy killed that big bad demon he's been hunting for so long, don't you?"

The news that John had finally finished the job didn't surprise Dean. What did surprise him, was that if the demon was dead then why hadn't he caught up to them yet. "His life, his problem," Dean finally replied, voice tight. "You know why I called you so quit playing games," he jerked a look back to the Impala. "I want my brother alive. You can have my life, my soul, I don't give a damn, just heal Sammy and give me some time with him so I can make sure he's safe."

Watching Dean, the female demon pursed full red lips as if considering that request as she strolled over to gaze at Sam Winchester's lifeless face. "Cute kid," she mused, looking back at Dean as if gauging him. "You know the rumors about him, right?"

"I don't care about that!" Dean snapped, panic setting in. "Can he bring him back?"

"Honey, it's what we do," she laughed, reaching up to caress his face. "You want little Sammy back and time enough to make him safe from the big bad world…or from your old man, then I give you that…for a price, of course."

Swallowing the lump, Dean took the final step. "How long?" he asked, not caring if it was a week or a year so long as he could make Sam safe and deal with John. "If you'd give me a year I'd…"

"Dean, sugar," the demon laughed softly. "I'll give you the standard ten years and even make sure Sammy doesn't remember the last night he spent alive since I know you don't want him remembering his own Daddy killing him," she watched the older brother with shrewd eyes. "Deal?"

Putting the last piece of the Colt back together, Dean could still feel the demon's kiss on his mouth if he thought hard enough and he swore if he was never kissed by a demon again it would be too soon. He'd sealed the deal and barely made it to the Impala in time to grab Sam as he jerked awake, gasping and fighting from nightmares he barely remembered.

"Sammy," Dean recalled the grief washing away as he pulled his little brother into his arms that night to feel his breath against his neck and the feel of his pulse beating strong again. Then he just had to face those big, wet hazel eyes looking at him with his brother's standard puppy dog eyes and lie to him when he asked what had happened and where their Dad was.

Dean glanced at the journal he'd started the night his nightmare began. He would leave it to Sam when the time came or when it became too much and Sam had to learn the truth. He suspected that Sam knew something had happened between Dean and John but he wasn't pushing it. All Dean had told him was that while he'd been out to the store, John had stepped out and someone had gotten into the cabin, hurting him to the point that Dean had taken him away from their father.

The important things to Dean was that his innocent little brother didn't know that John had killed him or that Dean had made a deal to bring him back. He'd cross that bridge either in ten years or when he was forced to. Either way, he had Sammy and he was bound to keep him safe.

Noticing the message light on his phone was blinking, Dean checked to see it was a message from Bobby but let it go for now. The older hunter, who had been like a second father to Sam and Dean, was the only one who knew the truth. Dean knew he needed to trust someone with the truth in case he was ever taken away from Sam or in case John caught up to them. He'd told Bobby about what John had done to Sam and what he had done to fix it. Of course, then he'd let the hunter rant for an hour about the stupidity of Winchesters before swearing he'd unload both barrels into John if he ever darkened his doorstep again.

He started to reach for the phone when he noticed his other phone was blinking with a new message. Biting his lip, he shot a look to the closed bathroom door to be sure Sam wouldn't be coming out before he flipped it up to check the message since he knew who it was from already. John was the only one who still used this number.

"Dean, I know you've been getting my messages so I know you've heard that I found and dealt with the demon who killed your mother and brother," John's voice was its usual gruff serious tone but this time it seemed more strained to the son who had spent a lifetime wanting to be just like his father. "Son, I…I know you hate me for what I did but what you've done is no better because things that are dead should stay dead and Dean…you know that I can't let this happen. Please don't make me hunt you because I don't want to lose both my boys but…" the message shut off when Dean closed the phone, stared at it a second and then crunched it under his boot.

"You already have lost both your sons, old man," he muttered darkly, shoving the clip back into the Colt and knowing that it wasn't just the supernatural or other hunters he'd have to shield his baby brother from now. He'd have to protect him from their own father and he planned to do just that since he'd be dead long before he saw John touch his brother again.

"Dean?" Sam stepped from the shower, floppy brown hair still damp to hang in his eyes more than usual and reminding Dean of when they were kids and he could make all their problems go away simply by beating up on bullies. "You okay?"

Gazing from the broken cell phone to his brother's face, Dean forced a smile before he crossed the room to pull a surprised Sam into his arms for a hard embrace that he didn't break for several long moments. "I'm good, Sammy," he assured him, fighting to keep his voice even but knowing Sam heard the deeper, more emotional tone when the boy held on tighter. "It's all going to be better cause I got us a gig lined up in sunny California."

"A hunt or just a chance for you to stare at half naked women, Dean?" Sam asked with a laugh, pulling on the overly large hoodie he'd taken to wearing again and missing the way his brother's hand smoothed down the back of his hair like he once had.

"Both actually if you have to be nosy about it…bitch," Dean shot back, swearing that Sam would keep that innocence for as long as he could manage it.

Turning from reaching into his duffel for clean socks, Sam's eyes were bright and happy as they met his brother's. "Jerk," he tossed back, sitting down and again not seeing the pain reflected in Dean's gaze. "You gonna call Dad and tell him?"

"No, Dad's…busy," Dean sighed, hating that lie and knowing eventually Sam would have to learn the truth but he was hoping it wouldn't be until he could drop his brother with Bobby while he went to handle their father. "Sammy, you trust me, right?"

"You're my brother so of course I trust you, Dean," Sam scoffed, seeing the strain for the first time as he finished tying his laces. "What's wrong, Dean? Something happen to Dad?"

Swallowing, Dean shook his head. "No, Dad's fine. It's just that you know that anything I do I will always have a good reason for it, right?"

"You mean by making a deal to save my life after Dad killed me and that you're thinking that you're going to have to kill Dad to keep him away from me?" Sam asked softly, dropping his eyes even before he felt Dean's weight on the bed beside him. "I…I heard Bobby yelling that night, Dean," he explained, looking up with fresh tears shining. "I thought they were just nightmares but they weren't, were they? Dad killed me and you made a deal to get me back?"

Fighting to breathe, Dean knew his brother didn't really want those answers as Sam suddenly grabbed onto him to cling like he had as a child. "It's okay, Sammy," he whispered, holding the boy that he'd sworn to protect like he used to when they'd both been kids and he was his brother's only wall of defense. "I will keep you safe this time and Dad will never hurt you again. I'll make sure of that long before my time's up."

Dean wasn't sure how long he held his little brother before the younger hunter finally fell into an uneasy sleep, but slowly he eased Sam under the covers but stayed beside him in case he woke up. He had never wanted Sam to know the truth about John. Knowing that Dean's life was up in ten years was one thing, but to know that your own Father had put a bullet in your head was something else. He knew the trouble they'd have but he also knew what others didn't.

Sam was Dean's little brother and so long as Dean was around him, Sam wouldn't go dark side, he wouldn't give in to the powers he seemed to have and he would survive. Dean would make certain of that, no matter who he had to kill. Sammy was his pride and joy, the annoying little brother who had followed Dean around and who Dean had given his life for.

"I love you, little brother," Dean whispered, letting his hand tremble as it carded through Sam's hair and Dean closed his eyes to sleep. He knew they were safe tonight and when the time came, he'd make that final sacrifice because he was Sammy's big brother and that was his job.

**The End**

**A/N: ** _This little piece popped into my head after I wrote John's story "Our Boys" and a conversation with another author, T.I. Arens mentioned what Dean would do if John had jumped the gun after Dead Man's Blood. I tried to avoid writing it because, to be honest, I can't write and cry at the same time but it wouldn't go away._

_When John told Dean that if he couldn't save Sam he might have to kill him in the 2__nd__ Season opening, it always made me wonder just how much longer John would've let it go with Sam before he did try to end his life since it was clear that John knew the truth about Sam and the other special kids of the YED._

_I appreciate those who read this and know that this is probably the closest to real AU or a real deathfic as I'll ever get. Thanks in advance._


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